Storm
Notebook: Physical Finals slow Jackson

By Jayda Evans and Bob Sherwin
Seattle Times staff reporters

JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES Storm forward Lauren Jackson, left, defended by Connecticut's Wendy Palmer during Game 2, is averaging 15.5 points in the Finals, down from her regular-season average.

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The Storm was lighthearted after practice yesterday at KeyArena.

The team worked out against its male practice players, but not to get accustomed to Connecticut's expected bruising style tonight in Game 3, which will determine a WNBA champion. The men ran the Sun's offensive and defensive sets.

Storm All-Star Lauren Jackson has been held to a mortal average of 15.5 points in two games against Connecticut and repeatedly said she needs to make adjustments for tonight's game. Storm coach Anne Donovan said that has to do with the way her star attempts her shots.

Jackson likes to square up in midair, but that's when she's being bumped by the defense.

"That's going to knock your shot off," Donovan said. "I think Lauren is dealing with so much contact in the paint, it's very frustrating for her. Lauren needs to continually focus on the shot and not focus on getting bumped."

Sun coach Mike Thibault scoffed at the idea that his team is playing Jackson, a 6-foot-5 power forward, any more physically than it would Los Angeles or Sacramento players.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "If that's as physical as she's had to play, I feel bad for her, because it's only going to get worse the longer she plays."

Donovan was asked if the physical nature was the officials' way of letting the players decide the championship. After a slight hesitation, she said, "You could call it that way. You could call it that way."

Euphoria extended: Sellout expected

Tickets for tonight's game have been selling at a rapid pace, 100 per hour, according to a Storm spokesman. About 1,000 remained last night, meaning the Storm could have its second consecutive sellout of 17,072 by the 6 p.m. game time. Hitting the mark was historic for the franchise Sunday — marking the largest turnout in its five-year history. The record also came on a day there was major competition as the Seahawks were playing to a sold-out Qwest Field across town.
 
Storm guard Sue Bird remembered playing before crowds of 4,000 her rookie season in 2002, but saw it jump to more than 12,000 when the Storm made its first playoff push, earning the fourth and final seed. While in college at Connecticut, the crowds were constant sellouts of about 16,000.

"We're trying to build something," said Bird. "And next season I guess that's when my UConn smarts will come into play because we'll have a bull's-eye on us because we made it this far."

Bird's experience made her pretty lax about what's at stake today, too.

"This is just a game," she said. "We've already done all of our preparation. We've talked about scouting. We've had our training camp. We had the regular season. We've been through it all, and now it's about going out there and leaving it all out on the floor."

In perspective

All that oppressive crowd noise tonight won't bother Sun center Taj McWilliams-Franklin. It doesn't matter if once again she goes 1 for 11. She won't get rattled if things get a bit wild and riotous.

It's just a game. It doesn't compare to life.

Franklin, who turns 34 next week, has seen it all, lived it all. She knows hard times. These are not hard times.

Back in 1989, just before entering college, Franklin, who grew up in Augusta, Ga., delivered her first child, Michele. She was an unmarried mother trying to balance school and basketball, with no income.

"I had Michele with me all through college," she said. "My mom wasn't there to take care of her. My dad wasn't available. It was only her and me. The struggle you go through to maintain for your children is amazing. I played basketball, I had a job, had an internship and I traveled to play ball. I had no money.

"Either you fail miserably or it makes you a stronger person. I just got stronger. You figure out how to feed your kid on a $1.50. This is the gravy part of it. If I miss 10 shots in a row, that's really not going to keep me up at night."

Franklin made it through college, becoming the career scoring leader at St. Edward's College and was the 1993 NAIA Player of the Year. She and Michele then went off together to see the world on the dribble. She played in Israel, Luxembourg, Germany and Italy, where she met and married her husband, Reggie Franklin, three years ago. She gave birth to her second child, Maia, in January 2003.

"Marrying Reggie has stabilized our home," she said. "Michele has been in the same school now for three straight years. That was something I would have never had (without marriage)."

The couple lives in Italy, where Reggie is based in the Army. He could be the next to leave, as there is a chance he could be deployed to Iraq. Franklin says she calls them three times a day. "I have to talk to my babies."

By the end of the week, she expects to join them in Italy.

Familiar sight

When Connecticut's Nykesha Sales broke out Sunday with 32 points — a career high and WNBA playoffs record — at least one member of the Storm was not surprised.

"I was like, 'Man, I've seen this before,' " said Bird, who went to Connecticut just after Sales graduated as the school's career points leader. "It was a little bit of a coming-out party on a very big stage.

"When a player is that hot, what are you going to do? Like Betty (Lennox, who had 27 points). How do you stop a player when they're that hot?"

Along with Sun forward Asjha Jones, there are three former Connecticut players involved in this series. Bird said, "I'm happy to see Nykesha do well. I want Asjha to do well. But I want to win."

Notes

• Sacramento coach John Whisenant was coughing up blood during his team's playoff run before being eliminated by Seattle in the Western Conference Finals. He had some tests done and results showed a lesion on his lower left lung is not cancerous, but doctors are still unsure about the problem. He is scheduled for more testing.

• Connecticut has held teams below 40 percent shooting in five of its seven playoff games.